Banooda.com is a Somali news website built on a WordPress platform. It serves as a vital source of information for a global audience, with a diverse range of content covering politics, business, sports, and more.
The Client
Case Study: Banooda
The Challenge
The digital landscape for Somali news is highly competitive and demanding. While Banooda has a functional presence, a strategic analysis revealed significant technical and user experience deficiencies that undermined its credibility and growth potential. The existing WordPress site featured a fragmented and cluttered homepage with redundant dual navigation menus, which increased the cognitive load for users. The site’s single-column, scrolling layout also made it difficult to quickly find content, particularly on mobile devices, which are a critical access point for its audience, including a large diaspora population.
A critical underlying issue was the lack of a professional and high-performance digital foundation. In a media environment where trust and reliability are paramount, technical flaws—such as slow load times and a non-mobile-friendly design—can be perceived as a lack of integrity. This was a major barrier to competing with well-established players in the Somali news space, and the site’s absence from major digital authority rankings underscored this challenge. The technical structure, attributed to “OZ Website Designs” , was not built to withstand the demands of modern web performance standards, impacting user experience and search engine visibility.
The Solution: A Strategic Digital Transformation
Our strategy was to execute a comprehensive digital transformation to rebuild Banooda’s online platform from the ground up. The goal was to transform the site from a simple news aggregator into a premier digital media hub—a fast, intuitive, and mobile-first experience that would not only deliver content but also project an image of credibility and stability.
This transformation was guided by a user-centric design philosophy, prioritizing performance and usability to meet the high expectations of a global audience. The project was conceived as a complete re-platforming on a modern, high-performance WordPress stack, ensuring the new site would be fast, secure, and scalable for long-term growth.
Our Approach & Key Implementations
Our approach was a phased digital transformation, focusing on addressing the most critical issues first and then building a robust, future-proof platform.
Phase 01
Laying the Technical Foundation
The initial phase focused on a technical rebuild to address the core performance and usability issues.
High-Performance Re-platforming: We migrated the website to a new WordPress stack, carefully selecting a modern, lightweight theme and optimized plugins to ensure a lean and efficient codebase.
Phase 02
Evolving Content and Engagement
With the new platform in place, this phase focused on a strategic evolution of Banooda’s content to increase audience engagement and showcase its unique value.
Simplified Navigation: The redundant dual navigation menu was replaced with a single, clear, and logical navigation bar, making it effortless for users to find the content they are looking for.
Outcomes & Future Outlook
The strategic digital transformation of Banooda.com has positioned the platform for a new era of growth and influence. The newly launched website is fast, intuitive, and mobile-friendly, providing a demonstrably superior experience for its global audience. The focus on performance and professional design has fortified the brand’s reputation, signaling its commitment to journalistic integrity in a challenging environment. By addressing technical deficiencies and evolving its content strategy, Banooda is now equipped to not only compete with but also set a new standard for excellence in Somali digital media. The new platform is a powerful tool for delivering reliable news and serving as a vital voice for the Somali people.